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Boys and Girls
To help solve an acute national over-population problem, a government issues a radical decree that families must stop having children as soon as they have had one son. After a while, there are some families with only one boy, some with one girl and one boy, some with two girls and one boy, some with three girls and one boy, some with six girls and one boy, etc., and some families only have girls and give up trying for a son.
Would boys tend to outnumber girls in this generation? Or vice versa?
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Discussion
Continued:
If the pattern continues indefinitely than the percentages would be 50-50, however since some families give up trying for boys there would be a slightly greater number of girls than boys.
50% of parents would have only one child because their first is a boy. 50% would have a girl and, if they continue to reproduce until they have a boy, will have a second child.
Of these second children 50% will be boys and 50% will be girls. Those with girls will have third children and the boys will match the girls in number.
umm this solution is wrong… ya there would be more girls. even look at the example—-there are 12 girls and only 4 boys…
The chances of one single person having a boy or girl is 50-50. But overall, there would be more girls in the longrun. If you can have as many girls as you like, but only one boy, girls will outnumber the boys.
what is going on in that crazy China!?
Difficulty
Currently: Fairly Easy (3.8)